The Shrine if Bahá'u'lláh, Bahjí, near Acre, Israel.

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Bahá'u'lláh

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Marrying Asiyih Khanum in October 1835, they had three children, `Abdu'l-Bahá, born in 1844; a daughter, Bahiyyih, born in 1846; and a son, Mihdi, born in 1848. Due to his upbringing and the social position of his family Bahá'u'lláh had the opportunity to lead a minesterial career, but instead, opted to help the poor, so much so that he was then known as "Father of the Poor". This life however deteriated quickly once he became part of the Babi movement, becoming one of the leading advocates of this movement.

As a result of this, Bahá'u'lláh was cast into what is known as 'The Black Pit' in Teheran. Once the underground reservoir for a public bath, its only outlet was a single passage down three steep flights of stone steps. Prisoners huddled in their own bodily wastes, languishing in the pit's inky gloom, subterranean cold and stench-ridden atmosphere. Bahá'u'lláh was placed here in the hope that he would die from the terrible condition, but instead the birth of a new religious revelation appeared. It was in this intolerable conditions that Bahá'u'lláh was summoned by God to bring this revelation unto the world.

Bahá'u'lláh spent four months in the Black Pit, during which time he contemplated the full extent of His mission. "I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been," He later wrote. "This thing is not from Me, but the One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven..."

On the 22nd April 1863, Bahá'u'lláh declared his mission to a group of Bábis in the Ridvan Gardens of Baghdad. His words and teachings were accepted immediately by the majority of Bábis, at which time they became known as Bahá'í'. With his words being spread at a rapid rate, and his followers increasing in numbers, the religious power of the time became concerned for their own power and status in the community, so much so that Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to Constantinople (Istanbul) on the 16th of August 1863. This did not stop however his flow of followers increasing, so again he was exiled to Adrianople (Edirne) in December of the same year. Finally as a last measure Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to the prison city of Acre, Ottoman Palestine, where Bahá'u'lláh voiced the words of God until his passing on the 29th May 1892 at Bahji, near Acre.

THE BAB ABDU'L-BAHA